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A routine trip to New Jersey’s Hazelnut Cafe for ice cream and coffee ended with an unexpected $1,600 bill for one family.
Kathy Denman described the incident as having seen nearly 14 million times on Tiktok video. Denman, 40, said she was on the cash register when she suddenly heard “a loud voice.” Sitting on her grandmother’s lap, her three-year-old daughter Ally accidentally crashed a heavy, marble table into the floor, splitting it in “a million different directions.”
Surveillance footage obtained by NJ.com shows Allie appears to be trying to slide out of the booth, with the table falling over. Two customers stepped in to lift the dining piece. Denman explained, “It’s very, very heavy.”
Thanking that the accident had not been injured to anyone, Denman’s relief quickly gave way to the chaos when the cafe owner called. After Denman’s toddler Ally repeatedly apologized to her from the background, the owner revealed that the table was rated “nearly $2,000”.
To leave the facility, Dedman says she was told she would need to hand over her driver’s license, credit card, email and mobile number along with her husband’s information.
“What she kept repeating, “Our policy is: She never added that she told her child whether her child was injured or not. She said that even if Denman had not objected that Ally had pushed the table, the owner also repeatedly reminded her that “it’s all on the video.”
Hazelnut Café did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Today.com, but issued a statement on Instagram saying, “A young girl accidentally kicked the table and tilted it.” The cafe denied holding Denman against her will, saying that she was “not billed to the damaged table,” and that she needed her contact details “for insurance purposes.” The statement also noted that all tables have been removed from four locations in the cafe. “To eliminate the risk of similar incidents.”
According to Denman, the table in question is a console table, which is generally intended for decorative use against the wall rather than for food.
On August 15th, Denman posted a follow-up on Tiktok.
“Since the incident, Hazelnut Cafe has reached out to apologise for how our family was treated,” she wrote. “We accept their apology and are pleased. We want to move forward peacefully. We don’t want to comment any more on this issue.”
This story first appeared on Today.com. More from today:
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